A Couple of Quitters » Quitters

Quitter Profile: Pat Flynn

Scott — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:19:50 +0000

This is the third Quitter Profile we’ve posted; the first two were profiles of future Quitters. This is our first profile of someone who actually escaped his day job, started an online business, and is now living a true success story. Pat is a regular guy who suddenly found himself facing a difficult situation. What I love about his story is that this could be anyone’s story. With so many people loosing their jobs and facing tough times, I feel that Pat’s story can be an inspiration to us all…a story that shows us the possibilities, if only we’re willing to take a chance and be bold.

Every time I read this interview, I feel a little more empowered. That’s because this is a powerful story. Have you been thinking about starting an Internet-based business? Do you have the soul of an entrepreneur? Do you wish you could work from home and spend more time with your family without having to worry about paying the bills? Then read this interview! Pat was just like you. If he can do this, so can you!

Name: Pat Flynn
Your age: 26
Location: San Diego, CA
Main website: www.SmartPassiveIncome.com

Other site: www.GreenExamAcademy.com

Q: Did you have a “day job” before you became self-employed? If so, what did you do?

A: I did have a day job, and I actually enjoyed it very much. I was working in an Architectural Firm here in Southern California and everything was going well. I was on some really high-profile projects, traveling all around the U.S. and meeting some really important clients. I managed the organization of construction documents for various projects, and also did a little 2d and 3d designing as well. If you go down the Strip in Vegas and run into the Hilton Grand Vacations Club Timeshare Resort, you can see the exact project I was working on for a couple of years. It was exciting.

Q: When did you quit your day job and how did you know the time was right to quit?

A: I never quit my day job because I was actually forced out of it. As we all know, hard economic times were felt by all – myself and my day job included. In October of 2008, I was let go and was left to figure out exactly what I was going to do. I panicked for a good 2 days until I realized I had an opportunity to do some wonderful things online. I was doing some very minor things like blogging in my free time before I was laid off, but now…I had all the time in the world. I decided to take what I was doing online to a whole new level and start my own business.

Q: What was your biggest motivation for escaping the rat race?

A: Even though I could of searched for a new architecture job, I decided not to. The primary motivation behind that decision was my fiancee. At the time of my layoff, I was engaged to be married in just a few months, and I already knew what it was like to be gone 8 hours a day, come home really tired (and often stressed), and just want to sit and do nothing. I didn’t like that kind of lifestyle. As much as I loved my 9 to 5 job, I still dreamt about working from home and not being tied down by some kind of schedule.

Today, I’m married and we actually have a baby boy due in January. Even though I work from home, often only just a couple of hours a day, I have more motivation than ever to do bigger and better things and make sure I’m able to be here for my family.

Q: Since you’ve quit the rat race, what is your main stream of income and how did you choose it?

A: My main source of income is from a blog I created that’s dedicated to helping people pass the LEED exam. The LEED exam is a test that people in the building and design industry take, which involves understanding green building and sustainable design principles. It was a test that I took myself and as I was studying, I created a blog to keep track of my notes and easily organize concepts and ideas for the exam. I actually never had any intention of monetizing it when it began, or even showing it to other people.

Little by little, I noticed that more and more people from around the world started using my website to help them study for the exam too. I didn’t really know how Google and Search Engine Optimization worked at that time, but apparently I was doing a great job of landing the top spots in certain keywords that were related to the exam, which drove people over to my site. After just a few months, I had over 1000 people checking out the website each day, and the numbers were not slowing down.

This was around the time of my lay-off, so when that eventually happened, I decided to just go full steam ahead on trying to make money online. I read a lot of books and blog posts about how to do this, but decided to first try out Google Adsense, which places ads on your website based on the content that are on the same page. That first month, I made a whopping $20, but I considered that a success. It was indeed possible to make money online – I just needed a whole lot more.

I soon joined the Internet Business Mastery Academy, learned a lot of valuable content there, optimized my blog and eventually launched my first Study Guide. After one month, I had grossed $7,906.55. Even though I’ve had a few different projects underway, since then, that blog continues to be my primary source of income today.

Q: Did you establish a formal business entity (such as an LLC) for your online business? Why or why not?

A: I was quick to establish a formal business entity, an LLC to be more specific. There are a couple of reasons why I chose to do this. First, it gives me a little bit of protection as far as if anything were to happen to my business, my personal assets would not be affected. That’s the theory, at least. There’s a lot that has to be done in order for that protection to actually hold true, such as making sure your business and personal financials are separate, your books are in order, etc. – but it’s definitely something that all sole proprietors who do business online should at least look into.

Secondly, starting a business was just something that I’ve always wanted to do. Having a formal LLC with documents from the State and everything like that made it seem more official and real for me.

Q: What’s most challenging about being self-employed?

A: There are 3 things I’d like to point out based on my own experience.

First, YOU make all the decisions. The freedom to do whatever you what is awesome, but you’re also responsible for things that you wouldn’t normally even need to think about when working a 9 to 5 job. For example, important tax and financial decisions that you might not know about or feel like dealing with. But, you’ve got to do it.

Secondly, your schedule isn’t set in stone. I had said earlier that this is exactly what I wanted, so why so I mention it here? Well, the problem comes from not having a specific time of the day when work it over. In a 9 to 5 job, after 5 o’clock, work is done and you can go home and not even have to worry about it until the next morning. Being self-employed, it’s REALLY easy to keep working and working just because you can. Your office is right there and you usually always have something you can improve on or do. It’s very challenging to make yourself stop working or checking your email – especially if you have an iPhone. I still need to work on this.

Lastly, it’s really easy to get distracted. Right now, I’m in an apartment and my work area is right next to the living room and the kitchen. Television and food – right there at my disposal. It’s hard to get into “work mode” and really focus sometimes.

Q: What do you enjoy most and least about working from home?

A: What I enjoy the most about working from home is that I’m able to stay close to my family at all times. Especially now that my wife is 6 months pregnant, I want to be there for her in case she needs me.

What I enjoy the least, besides being around when my wife gets those cravings and asks me to go out and get her food at random times during the day (kidding! sorta…) is just not having other co-workers around to talk to. I used to really enjoy water cooler talk, taking breaks with my co-workers and walking around the business complex. Also, there are no company parties or picnics, and no Halloween pumpkin carving contests or crazy tie days, which I used to enjoy.

Q: How many hours/week do you work now compared to your day job?

A: In my architecture job, it wasn’t uncommon to put in 60 hours a week, especially if there was a deadline or a presentation coming up. Now, as far as my main income source is concerned, I put in about 5 hours of work per week. I use all that extra time to work on other projects or teach people how to create similar passive income businesses too.

Q: Can you share any details about your income?

A: Sure. I’m actually known for being very open with how much I made over at my other blog at Smart Passive Income, so I’m happy to share my figures here with you and your readers.

As I said before, my first month after launching my Study Guide, I earned $7,906.55. A few months later, when I launched a related audio guide, I grossed $19,400.37. I peaked at $30,328.48 in March of 2009, but am still going fairly strong today. I also do a bit of affiliate marketing and article writing that combined earns a steady $4k to $5k a month as well.

Q: In hindsight, is there anything you wish you’d done differently, or better, or not done at all?

A: I would have started earlier. I was very fortunate to have the business almost form right underneath me without even knowing it, but if I was proactive and knew exactly what could have been right from the start, I could have potentially made so much more. That being said, once I figured out that I had an opportunity, I acted on it. It’s all about educating yourself, but not being scared to implement what you’ve learned.

Q: Do you provide any products or services that might help other Quitters on their journey to self-employment?

A: I’m so fortunate to be where I’m at today and I think it’s only right for me to give back and teach others how they can create a business and make money online too. This is why I created my other website at www.SmartPassiveIncome.com, to give away free tips and strategies for creating successful businesses online, specifically ones that you can set up in a way where you don’t have to be watching over it or actively involved to generate an income. It’s not exactly a coaching course or mentoring program, but I’m always happy to answer emails if anyone ever has any questions. You can reach me at the following website address:

http://www.smartpassiveincome.com

or, you can also find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/smartpassiveincome

Q: Any particular success you’re proud of, or a milestone, a goal accomplished, etc.?

A: A couple of years ago, I had made a list of goals to accomplish by the time I was 30. One of them was to start my own business, and another was to earn more than $100k in one year. Just in this past year, at the age of 26, I’ve done both.

Q: Is there any particular resource that has been helpful to you that you would recommend to other Quitters?

A: I have to give credit to the Internet Business Mastery Academy. I know you’ve talked about the Academy before, but I can honestly say it gave me the tools and advice I needed to turn my blog into a profitable online business.

I also have to give inspiration credit to Tim Ferriss and his book, The 4-Hour Workweek. I think the tagline says it all: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich.

Q: Got any advice/motivation for other Quitters reading this?

A: If I was only allowed to give away one piece of advice, it would be this. When trying to setup a business or even just a blog online, it doesn’t have to be perfect in order for it to succeed. So many people worry about perfecting the product before even launching it or publishing, and most of the time they worry so much that it either never gets done, or by the time it is done, it’s already too late. Take bold actions and start something! Remember, every day you don’t have something for sale is a day of potential profits lost.

BONUS!

Sterling and Jay, of Internet Business Mastery, did an interview with Pat Flynn for episode 55, Real Life Cubicle Escape Stories. You can listen to it online and hear Pat talk about his success. Also, Sterling and Jay used Pat’s success as a case study. Click on the 2nd link to check that out.

IBM 55 | Real Life Cubicle Escape Stories (How They Did It and How You Can, Too)

Ultimate Success Story #1: From Laid Off To $20K Per Month In This Tiny Niche?

Quitter Update: Nate Damm

Tammy — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:49:58 +0000

In a recent Quitter Profile we introduced you to Nate Damm. Nate announced some exciting news yesterday on his blog. Check out his post, “An Exciting Day For Me”. He has launched his first online business! Congrats Nate! You can give Nate a hand by tweeting or stumbling his post to help get the word out. And make sure you check out Nate’s new business, Free WordPress Install. Looks like a business model bound for success. Have I mentioned before that I like free stuff? Yeah, thought so. Well, if you want to start a WordPress blog but don’t want the headache of installing it yourself, let Nate take care of it for you. Congrats again Nate…onward and upward!

Quitter Profile: Nate Damm

Scott — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:11:47 +0000

You know how it is…you sit at your computer, as if you are meditating, and you go on a journey across the vast reaches of the Internet, following one site after another. You just sort of go wherever your interests lead you, stopping briefly, first here, now there; only long enough to see if anything catches your attention. It can be very cathartic wandering around like that. On one such trip around the netosphere, I happened upon the blog of someone I knew from Twitter. The title of his blog, The Way That You Wander, caught my attention. Finding a couple of post titles that looked interesting, I began reading. Sometimes, blog posts can drag on for days and no matter how awesome they may be, I sometimes just don’t have the time (or the attention span) to finish them. But this guy, Nate, was good at writing short but insightful posts–each one got me thinking. Nate sometimes uses movies, quotes or everyday experiences from which he gleans a bit of wisdom or makes a poignant observation that he shares with his readers. Since I like thinking and exploring the nature of life, Nate’s style appeals to me. He’s honest and open, optimistic and engaging…and he’s trying to become a Quitter.

I’ve gotten to know Nate better since I first wandered onto his blog. He’s a regular guy trying to create something unique in his life. He’s following the modern trend that, in the past, would have been considered a path of losers and ne’er-do-wells. Society doesn’t look too kindly on the unconventional lifestyle one chooses when one decides to work for him or herself rather than dutifully accept the standard 40-hours-per-week misery known as a typical day job (although Nate’s day job is actually pretty cool already). But working for someone else isn’t for me and it’s not for Nate either. And since we’re all in this together, I thought I would introduce you to Nate who hopes to soon join the ranks of other Quitters and be his own boss. (Be sure to visit his blog for some good reading.) And now, here’s Nate…

Name: Nate Damm
Location: Winthrop, Maine
Website: http://thewaythatyouwander.com

Q: When did you start this journey (and why)?
A: I’ve been pursuing online business success since I was 16 years old (I’m now 21), but about a year ago I started taking it very seriously. I’ve taken at lot of time to just sit back and learn, as opposed to trying every new idea that comes to me. Applying this knowledge that I’ve taken in has been my project for the last month or so, and I’m very close to launching my first business.

There are a lot of reasons why I want to free myself from the typical 9-5 work-’til-you-die world. I want to travel the world extensively and have set the goal of visiting at least 50 different countries in my life. I also want to be able to focus my time on helping others become free and live life the way they want to. Perhaps the biggest reason why I am pursuing this type of lifestyle is so I can spend time with friends and family.

Q: What’s your “real” job (the ball-and-chain day job)?
A: Well, I’m fortunate. I don’t really hate my “real” job at all. Although I would certainly prefer to work for myself and be my own boss, I am thankful to have a job when so many are out of work right now. I work for a small political consulting company, which my mother happens to own. Basically I just do a lot of database management, online presence management and social media stuff and I work at a variety of events. It’s pretty cool. Plus, it’s almost completely location independent. I rarely have to go to an office so anywhere with an internet connection is my office.

Q: What income stream(s) are you pursuing to get out of the rat race?
A: Well, the number one income stream that I am pursuing right now is the business I am about to launch. It is a WordPress blog installation and setup service. I have a somewhat unique business model, in that I don’t charge for my service. I do free WordPress installations as long as clients sign up for web hosting through my affiliate link. Affiliate payouts in the web hosting industry are very good so it works out great. I actually had my blog set up by a similar service, so things have really come full circle.

Once this business is launched, I will slowly start making some niche websites. I would also like to eventually do some productivity consulting for entrepreneurs through my blog.

Q: Any particular success you’re proud of, a milestone reached, a goal accomplished, etc.?
A: I’m proud of the WordPress installation business I’m about to launch. Mostly, I’m proud of myself for being so patient and then really putting my focus onto creating this business. The whole thing has come together very quickly, mainly because I took the time to plan it very carefully. It could do well, it could flop, but I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished.

Q: Any particular obstacles you’re currently struggling with?
A: The biggest struggle for me has always been self-doubt. There have been so many nights over the last several years where I l’ve laid awake wondering if I will ever be able to really make this freedom thing happen. For example, I’ll come up with an idea, and then just immediately shoot it down with thoughts like, “Nobody will buy this,” and “People won’t get it.” I recently got over this, and wrote a post on it (Rising above self-doubt). Liberating myself from self-doubt was a huge deal for me.

Q: Any particular expertise/product/service you want to “pitch” that other Quitters might be looking for?
A: Well, I would like to pitch my WordPress setup service, but it isn’t quite done! If you don’t have a blog and would like one, I could definitely help you out. Just shoot me an email via my blog and I’ll let you know when I launch this thing!

Q: When do you think you’ll ‘be free’?
A: My goal is to completely free by May 2010. All the pieces seem to be coming together and I’m really confident that I will reach this goal. The reason I’ve chosen this date is because I really love summer in my home state of Maine. To be able to do whatever I want during the day will be a dream come true. It will feel really nice to be free when all of my friends are working their butts off

Q: What exactly is the goal you’re hoping to reach by gaining your freedom by becoming a “Quitter”? Making enough passive income to cover your monthly expenses? Be able to travel?
A: The biggest goal I’m hoping to reach by gaining my freedom is to start a family. I know… I’m too young… I hear it all the time. But honestly, the happiest day of my life will be when I marry my beautiful girlfriend Ashley. So starting a family, being able to pay my bills and save a decent amount, and to be able to finance my travel goal are the objectives.

I always ask myself, “What’s your life currency?” If yours is money, maybe you should just stick to the “real world.” Mine is time. Freeing up time to enjoy the things that are important to me is key.

Q: Anything you want to say to other Quitters reading this?
A: Don’t ever give up. Seriously, I could have thrown in the towel a million times, but I’ve always pushed on. I’m so thankful that I have too, because I am so close to freedom I can taste it. I would also say this…take the time to learn and prepare. Don’t rush into a business idea that is going to be something that drains you of your optimism. I know it sucks to sit around, but it’s worth it. Soak it all in, read, learn and then start making moves. Scott and Tammy are doing this and I really admire them for it, it’s the best way to go.

Quitter Profile: Ian Anderson

Tammy — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:30:23 +0000

I was killing some time recently, cruising around Ebay to see if there was a possibility of using auctions to increase affiliate marketing sales. I ran across an auction listing for a cool-looking website, and I checked out the seller’s other listings. The websites he had listed looked pretty interesting because they were pre-made, monetized websites with good domain names. Since Scott and I are focusing on Affiliate Marketing right now, I fought the temptation to consider buying a biz-in-a-box website, and instead dug in a little deeper to find out what this guy was doing “behind the scenes” to make money online. From the eBay listing, I managed to land myself on the seller’s personal blog at MyFriendIan.com. One thing led to another, and next thing ya’ know I was chatting it up with Ian Anderson. Turns out that Ian and his girlfriend of 8 years, Amy, are on the same journey as we are – trying to escape the rat race. Ian’s goal is to be free from the rat race by his 29th birthday…which, as of this posting, is only 64 days away! His blog chronicles his “countdown to freedom” on a daily basis. It’s pretty fascinating – and motivational – to keep up with the progress of other Quitters and see what’s working for them and what’s not. I asked Ian some questions about his journey and it sprouted into our first “Quitter Profile.” So, enjoy meeting Ian, make sure you check out his blog at MyFriendIan.com, and check back here in the future for profiles of other Quitters. There are plenty of us out there! Read more for the Q & A…

Name: Ian Anderson
Location: New Bedford, MA
Website: http://www.myfriendian.com

Q: When did you start this journey, and why?
A: This is a tough question, because for about the last 2-3 years we’ve (my girlfriend Amy and I) have known what we wanted to do, we talked about it all the time, we read tons of books on personal finance, but we didn’t put much action into it. Everyday after working 8 hours it’s hard to turn your attention to more work – so you end up pushing it off until the weekend, then the weekend comes and it’s warm and sunny and then it’s downhill from there!

It wasn’t until one week in Feb. of this year. During this week something happened – my work (which I’ll talk about in a sec.) dried up and I had no clients wanting my services. During that week, we talked about becoming free in even greater detail than ever before, we talked about not wanting to follow the footsteps of anyone we know, we talked about being able to take care of our family, we talked about being able to travel around the country working when we wanted, we talked about becoming free so we could teach others, but this time we added the two principals that we would now focus on: Lowering Expenses and Increasing Passive Income. It’s a lot easier to decrease your expenses than it is to increase your passive income. This never ‘sank in’ until recently.

We started by selling all the extra stuff that we didn’t need, Comcast internet, two cars (I usually work from home and sometimes I take her to work if I need the car), my broadband access card (I realize that most places I went had wifi). We sold everything in our house that wasn’t essential: the big screen TV, the Wii, the decorations, and used the money to pay off credit cards. We started to really analyze where our money was going, we made charts and graphs to plot our progress and it was encouraging. Things really picked up when I started documenting our journey on http://www.myfriendian.com. Each and everyday I take steps forward – and the momentum builds!

Q: What’s your “real” job (the ball-and-chain day job)?
A: My ‘real’ job is creating websites for small to medium sized businesses. I basically make websites with one company, that company pays me each week but I am not an employee, it’s a strange situation which I want to get away from. I f’n hate it. It drives my crazy. However it has allowed me to put together any kind of site I want really quickly.

Q: What income stream(s) are you pursuing to get out of the rat race?
A: Google AdSense, my secret subscription based website, iphone app sales, eBook sales and sales of my 3 CD audiobook ‘Built To Win’. We’ve also been looking at 4 unit apartment buildings.

Note: Ian’s new website will be officially launching soon. You can get a sneak peek at Streetvertisement.com

Ian has also had some big success recently, selling websites on Flippa (which was SitePoint until last week). He is currently listing a custom-made, monetized website that you can see HERE, but the auction ends Sunday so make sure to check it out now if you’re interested in buying a website that’ll put some bling in the bank!

Q: Any particular success you’re proud of, or a milestone, a goal accomplished, etc.?

A: My financial education is the thing I am most proud of – mostly because it goes against what most do and what everyone has told me about money growing up. I got most of my education from reading books and checking out sites online. Another thing I am particularly proud of is the fact that we have both lost the ‘consumer bug’. I realized that the latest Apple gadgets and Calvin Klein clothes are not going to help us get to where we want to be – in fact it brings us in the other direction. In fact, as I write this Apple is releasing the iPhone 3G S and people are lining up outside of stores to get their new iPhone – at one point that would have been me. Not anymore. Now I can see why people are stuck in the rat race until they die, now I can see why people have to have a regular job forever. Most Americans blindly live this lifestyle obsession of collecting ‘things’ and not experiencing the world – exactly the way Coca-Cola, Ford and McDonald’s want.
I’m proud of our progress. We haven’t gotten out of the rat race yet, but we have made tons of progress and it feels good to reflect on how far we’ve come.

Q: What is one of the obstacles you’ve had to face since you started your journey?

A: The negative feedback from family. Let me give you a few examples!
“No Ian, you need to buy your own house before you can go and buy an apartment building”
“Why are you guys selling your dining room table, where are you going to eat?” [stomps out of the house while huffing] – meanwhile we haven’t eaten at our dining room in 6 months.
“Why are you so focused on money all the time, who do you think you are Donald Trump?”
Don’t get me wrong, I love feedback, but when the comments are coming from people that are not where I want to be in life I can’t listen.

Don’t give up. Listen to the people that have/are what you want to be. Clearly define your goal. Do something towards your goal every day.

– Ian Anderson

Ian’s Links:

Blog: http://MyFriendIan.com

Website: Streetvertisement

Products: Ian’s Store